Nothing makes a day brighter than a visit from LA-LA Land Guru Kii Arens. Kii was actually the first artist Katie and I met when we putting our LA gallery together back in 2003. We showed him what was to be our space then (now a maternity clothes store across from Meltdown), ate at Cheebo, got the bill, then realized we can't treat artists to Cheebo anymore, and basically felt out what we were in for with future artist dealings (although he ended up being super easy breezy). He showed his Spin Art series with us sometime during our first 4 or 5 shows, when he was still calling Minnesota his home, so we were thrilled when he moved out to LA for good.
One thing I LOVE about Kii is that he THINKS SO BIG. Ask him what he's up to, and he isn't gonna say, "Oh, I'm just watching old CSI episodes on TiVo" or "I'm really getting into Sudoku." He's gonna throw his arms in the air and yell, "I'm running for President of Peru!" or "I adopted a pack of wolves and they're living in my loft."
And the CRAZIEST part is...he pulls these things off. Today he told me about his newest idea, which made my head bleed a bit, but like most of his brainchildren, it was genius. Also, his new pieces are utilizing random sidewalk splatters that he takes photos of, so keep an eye out for that, as not to step in it.
Random Trivia on Kii:
Used to be in a rap group.
Was seen individually cheering for Loverboy during a reunion special on television
Was the only artist to tell us it was a good idea to name our gallery "Anthony Michael Hallway," which was our leading candidate before we settled on "1988."
Until tomorrow.
Jensen
G1988: LA
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